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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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http://www.archive.org/details/beyond01timb 



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BEYOND, 



BY 



THEODORE RUGGLES TIMBY, A. M., S. D. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, by 

Theodore; ruggles timby, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 



In the Storm c 

The Rock by the Brook n 

By and By o 

In the Cyclone's Path 10 

God and Reason !^ 

Stars jc 

The Sun's Presence ■ 16 

Where God Is Seen 18 

God and Purpose ig 

Bridging the Skies 20 

Stellar Worlds 24 

Beyond 27 

Among the Stars 28 

Creative Man 30 

Vistas American 31 

Solar Light 34 

Genesis of the Revolving Turret ...._. 44 



PREFACE, 



In early manhood I resolved to better the condition of the 
race by advancing the art of National Defense to a degree that 
would discourage aggressive war, by making successful invasion 
impracticable. 

In this humane and Christian effort I found myself confronted 
with (to me) a new and formidable factor in the problem to be 
solved, viz. : that any and every departure from crude and barbarous 
ways and means would meet with remorseless and relentless hostility; 
thus adding a hundred fold in time, money, and patience to the task 
before me. 

In this unequal conflict with the inevitable I have often found 
diversion as necessary to health and strength as is persistence in the 
pursuit of success in every important reformation. 

In this direction I feel that my life work has not been a failure. 

T. R. T. 



"Invention is inspired vision; enthusiasm is an electric force necessary to 
make the vision tangible." 



IN THE STORM. 



IN THE STORM. 



Written in a storm on a passage from Havre to New York, in the Steamer 
Fulton, August 21, 1856. 



Egypt's night is on the flood, 
The sun beyond the liquid hill, 

The sea as restless as when God 

Commanded its proud waves, "Be still!" 



'Tis night upon the briny heath, 

The winds are driving through the foam; 

Our ship is trembling in the breath 
Of "Him who rides upon the storm." 



No light upon our briny path; 

Hark! hear the crash! Father, stay! 
The storm has summoned all its wrath, 

And hurled its forces in our way. 



IN THE STORM. 



There's terror in the blinding shock; 

The distant worlds withhold their light; 
The winds, the sea, and thunders mock 

The trust we have in God to-night. 



Why fear the tempests or the floods, 

When God with power directs them all? 

Will He forget His promised words, 
Yet note with care the raven's call? 



THE ROCK BY THE BROOK. 



THE ROCK BY THE BROOK. 



I sat upon this same old rock, 

Just fifty years ago, 
And saw a face below the brook 
With flaxen hair and happy look. 

I sat upon this same old rock, 

Just fifty years ago, 
And saw a tiny shadow play 
With flowers gathered by the way. 

I sat upon this same old rock, 

Just fifty years ago, 
And listened to the music sweet, 
Of whirling waters round my feet. 

I stood upon this same old rock, 

Just fifty years ago, 
Saw in the pool another world, 
"With purple skies and clouds of gold." 



THE ROCK BY THE BROOK. 

I fished from off this gray old rock, 

Just fifty years ago, 
With tiny line and baitless mite, 
I told the dace to come and bite! 



I fell asleep on this old rock, 

Just fifty years ago, 
And dreamed an angel held the shade 
Above the moss on which I laid. * 



And now upon this grave old rock 

I look for "Long Ago," 
Another face is in the brook, 
And faded leaves are in the nook. 



"And we all do fade as a leaf." 



BY AND BY. 



BY AND BY. 



We shall meet among the STARS, many loved 

ones of ours, by and by; 
Where the fragrance of flowers falls around 

them in showers, from the sky. 



We shall live by and by, where the many 

colored stars make the day; 
There the splendor of their light "will forever 

hide the night" from our way. 



We shall rest, by and b}r, where our many 

cherished hopes never die; 
In the splendor of a home where angels love 

to roam, in the sky. 



IO IN THE CYCLONE'S PATH. 



IN THE CYCLONE'S PATH. 



There on a cliff, by the drowsy deep, 
Where the restless waves were lulled to sleep; 
There the breathless sail and the boatman's oar, 
And the foam of the sea, slept on the shore. 

The storm that rolled o'er the girdle of brine, 
And aroused it below the sounding line, 
Had gone in its wild and dizzy flight, 
To rest in the shades of the Arctic night. 

The sea, in its light and rippling sway, 
Shone like the stars in the milky way; 
A silence seemed to couch at my feet, 
And the heart of the ocean ceased to beat. 

A Stranger came and stood by my side 

In robes as pure as a royal bride; 

Then raised a hand o'er the dazzling lea, 

Where the sunbeams came to bathe in the sea. 



IN THE CYCLONE'S PATH. II 

Then pointed away where the skies unite 
With eternal floods like the mountain's height, 
Where the heated clouds in their tragic wrath 
Were crashing along on the whirlwind's path. 



From a deep blue sky, o'er a tranquil main, 
The warning tones of a tempest came, 
And the waters rose in their restless beds 
Like the snow-wreathed crowns on Alpine heads. 



And swiftly the glare of the lightnings came, 
To light up the scene with their blinding flame; 
And the cyclone charged on the watery hosts, 
Like the strife of the Gods in "Paradise Lost." 



The cliff, as the ocean, excited and wild, 
Shook like the floods where breakers are piled. 
In sublime desolation God's judgment was there, 
Like the wrath of Jehovah poured out on the air. 



12 IN THE CYCLONE'S PATH. 



A gem from His hands had dropped in the deep, 
And shone like the Sun on the scene at our feet; 
The winds ceased their shock on headland and surf, 
And the tones of the thunders were, lost in the earth. 



The foam of the sea again slept on the strand 
At the foot of the cliff, on the rocks and the sand — 
For an Angel had rolled the tempest away, 
And the sunbeams came and bathed in the sea. 



GOD AND REASON. 1 3 



GOD AND REASON. 



Go, stand by the sea, in the midst of the roar 

Of the winds and the surf that break on the shore; 

There ask of thy reason, is there a God, 

The Maker and Moulder of the tireless flood? 

See! the in-rolling tide answers, Yes! there's a God! 



And there on the cliff, with clouds at your feet, 

Examine thy reason as when by the deep; 

Are the tones of the tempest the voice of a God? 

See Orient rise, o'er the wave and the sod, 

To answer thy query. Yes! 'tis the voice of a God! 



14 GOD AND REASON. 



And now in the twilight, where silence abounds, 
Appeal to thy soul — there reason is crowned; 
Are the worlds which we see the work of a God? 
Lo, the stars and the universe come like a flood, 
To answer thy query, Yes! the work of a God! 



Not only is God the Author of all 
Which we meet in our walk o'er this circling ball. 
In the leaf on the plain, on mountain or stream, 
Where science has trod, by fountain or sheen, 
His infinite mind and purpose are seen. 



STARS. 



15 



STARS. 



Far beyond the numeral bars, 
Billions, are the glittering stars — 
Each orb a central fiery goal, 
A million leagues from girth to pole. 

Their orbit broad, Divine their way, 
Their circuit made in perfect day — 
Each moving in a glow its own, 
And giving life to worlds unknown. 

Unchallenged by the march of time, 
As in their birth, in age, they shine: — 
Forever on a burning wing 
Around the throne where angels sing. 

And each a golden Empire claims 
Where shining worlds they hold in chains — 
Since first the heart of Nature beat, 
Bright worlds have rolled around their feet. 



16 THE sun's presence. 



THE SUN'S PRESENCE. 



The Sun's presence: is God's appointed authority for all of 
Nature's physical changes within the limit of the solar domain. 

He gives us every zephyr, every cooling breeze, every gale, 
every cloud, and every storm. He gives us every dew-drop, every 
rain-drop, and every flake of snow. He gives us every brooklet, every 
river, every lake, and every inland sea. 

From Him every leaf, every blade of grass, and every flower 
receives its life, form, tint and fragrance. 



The mountains fall before His face, 
A silent homage seem to pay; 

He speeds the floods, their course to trace, 
And rolls the tempests on their way. 

He frets and calms the restless sea, 
And charms to life the frozen land; 

He warms the plain and shades the lea, 
And fans the burning desert sand. 



THE SUN'S PRESENCE. 17 



He crowned the mountain's lofty dome, 
And drew the eternal frost lines there; 

He lights the feet of coming morn, 
And gilds the graceful evening star. 



Still more wonderful, the Sun's absence gives us night, and, 
with it, a Universe of more than a thousand million glittering orbs, 
some of them thousands of times larger than our Sun, and we may- 
know each and every star to be, by birth and law, Divine, the center 
and ruler of an eternal empire of shining worlds. 



x g WHERE GOD IS SEEN. 



WHERE GOD IS SEEN. 



Who the mountain's brow can lightly tread, 
Mid breach, and stream, and silent bower, 

And read the face of rock and blade, 
And not see God in cliff and flower? 



Who can feel the ocean's throbbing breast, 

Where sleep the winds — or tempests rave- 
Where borne along from gulf to crest, 
And not see God in every wave? 



Who early dawn can calmly sight, 
Where ocean hides the heart of day, 

And watch the rising flood of light, 
And not see God in every ray? 



WE SEE GOD AND PURPOSE. 19 



Who the glittering vault can calmly sight, 
Where clear and deep night's shadows are, 

And meditate their birth — their depth and flight, 
And not see God in every star? 

Who those far-off Suns can calmly sight, 
Where many million worlds are born, 

And, peering through the rifted realms of light, 
Can not see God beyond their dawn? 



WE SEE GOD AND PURPOSE— 



In the mountains, in the floods, and in the dainty flowers; 
In the whirlwinds, in the clouds, and in the gentle showers; 
In the sunshine, in the shade, and in the balmy air; 
Beyond the light of distant worlds, and in the farthest star. 



20 BRIDGING THE SKIES. 



BRIDGING THE SKIES. 



Unlike the investigation of some of the sciences, the study of 
the Heavens never becomes monotonous or uninteresting; on the con- 
trary, every feature of astronomy excites our admiration and interest, 
and every discovery associated with or belonging to the Stars 
is an endless wonder. A study of their enormous magnitude, 
their numbers and distance from us and each other, their depth, 
color and beauty, their ceaseless and rapid flight through endless 
time and boundless space, at first intoxicates and then inspires our 
conception of the Infinity, Power and Purpose that gave the Stars 
their birth and light and lightning speed on wings of fire, making 
night, with its dome of brilliant worlds and burning orbs, Nature's 
grandest sight, and the consummation of all that is sublime within the 
range of mortal vision. The depth, breadth and extent of the view, as 
seen with unassisted eyes, compared to that revealed by the aid of the 
telescope, in contrast, would be as a handful of water to the contents 
of a thousand oceans. It is estimated that as many as a thousand 
million Stars can be seen with the aid of the best glass; and could 
we quadruple the penetrating power of our glasses we would quadruple 
the number of visible Stars, and some of them are supposed to be 
thousands of times larger than our Sun. And when we reflect that 



BRIDGING THE SKIES. 2I 

each and every Star, (like our Sun) has its individual system or 
empire of glittering worlds, we may, in a degree, appreciate their 
extent, grandeur and beauty; Of their distance from us nothing is 
definitely known beyond the fa6t that the nearest is beyond a certain 
limit, but how far beyond is to man unknown, and the limit referred 
to is as much further from us than the Sun, as the Earth is broader 
than a grain of sand. And the distance between any two Stars is 
likely to be quite as great as the distance between them and us. 
And God has put us just far enough from these shining worlds to 
make the vista perfect. 

What are known as the Star-depths consist of innumerable 
clusters, groups and galaxies, and they present nearly every con- 
figuration. The cluster of which our Sun is an humble member is 
supposed to contain from twenty to thirty million Suns, and that of 
Andromeda a much greater number; and it is said that Lord Ross' 
great telescope has revealed Star clusters so remote as to take their 
light, at 200,000 miles a second, thirty million years to reach the 
Earth. 

We are especially impressed with the incomprehensible rapidity 
of revolution and flight of the solar and stellar spheres, for we see 
in the Stars, Suns like our own, with their systems of subordinate 
worlds, spinning as a top in limitless space, and moving with 
Omnipotent speed and power around these distant central orbs. And 
they too, with their escorts of shining worlds, revolve around the 
center of the cluster or group to which they belong, and these starry 



22 BRIDGING THE SKIES. 

empires may be supposed to move in Grand Procession around 
another, the Center of an Infinite Universe. 

Motion, like time and space, can only be considered and 
measured by the use of a unit. In this brief thought we will make 
the unit of motion one mile a minute, and, with this factor or value, 
we will the better understand and appreciate the maximum of motion 
as shown in astronomical observation. 

Scanning the mile posts by the rail, watch in hand, with beaded 
brow and bated breath, exclaimed, a mile a minute ! ! fearful ! ! / 
The telescope reveals the spinning or rotary motion of Jupiter to 
be 450 times that of our unit, and his journey around the Sun is 
made at much higher speed. In making the circuit of the Sun the 
motion of the Earth in space is more than a thousand times that 
of our unit. And the planet Mercury's motion in space is 1,600 
times greater than the fearful dash of the train. And the peri- 
helion motion of some of the great Comets is estimated at 180,000 
miles a minute ! ! 

It is almost certain that discoveries will yet be made in some 
of the far-off worlds which will result in benefiting the physical 
condition of man, and this conclusion is more in harmony with our 
reason to-day than would have been an endorsement forty years ago 
of the practical use of the telegraph, or a similar confidence expressed 
in the possibilities of the telephone a decade since. 

The divinity in man, which enables him to go from an intelli- 
gent consideration of the anatomy of his hand to a logical hypothesis 



BRIDGING THE SKIES. 23 

of the physical constitution of yonder Star in one and the same 
breath, will, in time, enable him to investigate others of the Solar 
worlds by bridging The SKIES with vastly more powerful instruments 
than any now thought of. 

There will never be a time in the future of our race, when man 
will cease to advance in physical and intellectual conquest. Other 
routes and wider logic will bridge the BROADEST intervening space 
in the way of his onward and never-ending destiny, reaching 
farther and farther into the depths of immensity, vastly beyond 
present visible confines; for, next to the universe in extent, are the 
breadth and forces of the human mind. 



24 • STELLAR WORLDS. 



STELLAR WORLDS. 



In contemplating the many million systems of worlds which 
surround us, the imagination is overwhelmed in a universe of varying 
life, beauty and grandeur. 

We see the countless orbs around us roll in flames, 
And know that each a golden empire holds in chains; 
We see God's fiery envoys* in magic splendor rise, 
In grand electric pomp burn bright along the skies. 

And, like the solar worlds, that in OUR system gleam, 

Are STELLAR worlds, with valleys deep, and lakes in golden sheen: 

We seef their plains and glens and grottoes dark and wild, 

We see their lofty peaks in crystal splendor piled. 

*The Author considers Comets as physical Envoys of the Deity, charged with great and vital 
powers pertaining to the life, harmony and equilibrium of that part of the universe, or star cluster, of 
which our Sun is an humble member. In imagination we can see and hear the awful elementary 
excitement incident to approaching forces of a comet in continuity with those of the Sun. Like the 
meeting of ten thousand electric fiery worlds in space, with salute of all their batteries, the thunders of 
which would rend the farthest planet did there exist an atmospheric connection to transmit the sound. 
The awful grandeur and sublimity of the scene at first seems to paralyze and then to inspire our reason 
and adoration of the Power aud Purpose which called these fiery envoys to life, and then sent them 
into the depths of the universe, timed and commissioned with authorit3' to impart vitality, force and 
balance to the great central orbs of the universe. 

fWe see, in imagination, the Solar system, in a greater or less degree, duplicated in each and 
every star. 



STELLAR WORLDS. 25 

We see their flowery vales, where zephyrs wing their way, 
Mid crystal pools and streams, to revel in the spray; 
We see their forest shades, where cooling fountains spring, 
Where merry waters dance, and crested beauties sing. 

We see their oceans wide, their rivers pure and bright, 
Where pearls and richer gems lie sparkling in the light; 
We see their emerald seas, in gold and purple bands, 
Where tinted light and shade in every color blends. 

We see their frozen climes, revealed in polar light, 
Where icy mountains frown on Arctic sable night; 
We see their torrid zones, beneath the stellar gaze, 
And in the warm embrace of amber-tinted rays. 

We see their lofty cones, their flames against the skies, 
Where towering clouds of fire forever seem to rise; 
We see the glowing flood roll down the mountain side, 
With hissing, fiery tongues, to meet and stay the tide. 



2 6 STELLAR WORLDS. 



We see their lightnings gleam and hear their thunders roar, 
Where fiery tempests hurl the floods upon the shore: 
We see their storms subside, and calm of summer blest, 
Again upon the seas and on the islands' crest. 



We see their mountain loops, where charming vistas are, 
Where life and light seem full, and all looks bright and fair: 
We see their dizzy cliffs, the deeply shaded pool, 
Where rainbows come to bathe in falling waters cool. 

We see their ruby sands reflect the noon-day sun, 
Where royal purple groves and crimson floods are borne: 
We see their evening shades, and early lighted stars, 
Their brilliant kindred worlds, like Venus and like Mars. 

We see their lunar orbs, mid silver-flooded scenes, 
In royal crested robes, night's stately silent queens; 
We see their rising suns, where morn breaks o'er the lea, 
We see strange tribes of men, and castles by the sea. 



BEYOND. 27 

We see their crested waves bear proudly on their breast 
The commerce of a world, o'er seas that never rest; 
We see the bended sail in fearful tempests there, 
And white against the shore where men and cities are. 

We see their crowded marts, where gems are bought and sold, 
We see their temples crowned with domes of burnished gold; 
We note the voice of man like countless singing pearls, 
And hear the songs of praise from endless starry worlds. 



BEYOND. 



We see another broader, and brighter world beyond the skies; 
Where worth from every peopled sphere, like floral mountains rise 
Around a brilliant canopy of living truth and love, the goal — 
And Home, the Throne of Life, and Light and Law, the God of All. 



28 AMONG THE STARS. 



AMONG THE STARS. 



To yonder starry worlds, my reason flies; 
To realms eternal in the boundless skies. 
I long to walk beyond the azure line, 
Where suns of other tints forever shine. 



I'd quickly climb the far-off Pleiades 
And bridge their seething crests and fiery seas. 
Would catch the music dropt from glowing tongues 
And taste the light that's born of ruby suns. 

And there around Orion's lofty bourne 
I linger where the realms of light are torn. 
I'd go beyond the rifted golden flood 
And solve this peerless mystery of God. 



Along the comet's path, in golden car, 

I'd mark the depth and flight of every star. 

And yonder distant belt of silvery waves, 

I'd mount its crests, and fathom all its caves. 



AMONG THE STARS. 29 

These distant glowing worlds have charms divine, 

Their grandeur leads me nearer God to climb. 

And higher still, I'd walk the brilliant dome 

That spans and lights God's boundless, starry throne. 



I wait the coming of that welcome hour, 
When nearer God, that unseen central power, 
To hear, His calling new-born suns to reign, 
And see the golden empires in their train. 



I'd trace the far-off bourne that God has made 

To every moving world, of light or shade: 

Would span and know the laws that guide their flight, 

And stamp them on the golden crest of light. 



To stray, where yonder outer verge of stellar glow is lost in 
space — beyond the realms of law or time — where vacancy alone has 
ever reigned supreme — would only slake a thirst to know, of causes, 
First! : and all that God has made. 



30 CREATIVE MAN. 



CREATIVE MAN. 



Creative man! Inspired with fire divine, can see no wave too 
deep or broad to cross, or mountain top too steep or high to climb; 
can see no way too rough, to run and win, no gulf, however deep or 
wide, to bridge, or wealth too deeply hid in caves to grasp. He storms 
the savage rock, the vaults unfold, walks calmly o'er its prostrate 
broken form, at leisure counts and packs its hoarded gold. He charms 
and chains the lightning's wing, and at his touch it speaks in words 
of fire in many tongues on every shore. To bridge the sky and toy 
with solar worlds, to weigh their sands and mark their flight in space, 
are all within the line of distant goals. With achromatic lens and 
reason poised, he notes the comet's time and marks its graceful sweep, 
among the stars. He scans and ranks the far-off stellar deep, through 
realms that only time and law and thought can reach. 



VISTAS AMERICAN. 31 



VISTAS AMERICAN. 



A land of strange shadows, with iron-bound lore, 

Met the gaze of the Briton on nearing the shore 

Where the red-man, the wolf and the panther then prowled, 

"Where the tempests and gore-handed savages howled. 



Land of the Mohawks, the war-path and whelps, 
The camp-fire and council, the war-dance and scalps. 
Land of the wild-wood, the fawn and the doe, 
The brook and the beaver, the arrow and bow. 



Land of the Pilgrims, the Sabbath and school, 
Fort of the wood-man, brave hearted and cool, 
Of our fathers and mothers, our sisters and brothers, 
Of childhood, and home of our sweethearts and lovers. 



32 VISTAS AMERICAN. 

Land chosen of Christians as refuge and home, 
Building temples of letters on rock, stream and dome. 
Land born of ideas and moulded in fire, 
With God its foundation and glittering spire. 

Land of great scholars, great merchants and great financiers, 
Shades of great statesmen, great jurists and great engineers. 
Land of great cities, great temples, great schools and great halls, 
Giving lustre and breadth, with justice and freedom to all. 

Land of great harbors, great docks, great ships and broad sails; 
Land of deep channels, high bridges, long roads and bright rails, 
Land of rich mines and large mails, of fast trains and deep wells; 
Land everywhere ringing a chime of its whispering bells. 

Land of a hundred great centres of business and rest, 
With billions invested, improving and moulding the best. 
Land of great flocks and great herds over hillside and stream, 
In number as rain-drops and countless as waves on the main. 

Land laden with fruit of the tropic and temperate zones 
And teeming with cereal riches for millions of homes; 
Land of laurel and cedar, the maple, the oak and the pine, 
The hemlock and redwood, the cypress, the walnut and lime. 



VISTAS AMERICAN. 



33 



Land of great breadth, as shown on the dial of time, 
Holding the glacier, the citron, the orange and vine. 
Land of great geysers, deep canyons and singing cascades, 
Broad rivers, steep bluffs, cool grottoes and sheltering shades. 



Land washed by great oceans, where ideal stars set and rise 
And slaked by great founts gently dropped from the bountiful skies; 
Land drained by great waters, that course and leap in the spray; 
Land fragrant with flowers and fanned in the breath of the sea. 



Land of green valleys, blue skies, bright stars and broad states, 
Its cliffs and its rainbows reflected in thousands of lakes. 
Land of great forests, great falls and deep fountains untold, 
And bright is its gateway, and broad are its mountains of gold. 



Land of bright wings in number as flowers on the plain, 
Their music as sweet and charming their plumage and name. 
Land where the Gods have exhausted the ideal arts 
In making a castle of grand and imperishable parts. 



34 SOLAR LIGHT. 



SOLAR LIGHT. 



Since the advent of onr race on this planet, have men with 
earnest Drain and grateful hearts, paid willing homage to the King of 
Day, and held their frigid hands to catch the heated arrows hurled 
from the glowing quiver of a shoreless sun. A Deity more ancient, 
and a philosophy more universal, than that of solar radiation, we do 
not recall. Such were the faith of the sage, the logic of the learned, 
and the rule of the wise of all nations and all ages, viz., that that 
which is termed solar light and heat is matter thrown off, or radiated 
from the sun's disk. 

Such was, not only the philosophy of all men, but to-day, it is 
a charm that has a responsive glow in the life and light of all the 
earth, and so far as the unity of human reason is concerned the same 
could be said of man's philosophy and judgment as to the shape of 
the earth, so late as the 17th century. And yet this reasoning was 
sadly at fault; and no more so than is the accepted theory of solar 
radiation of to-day. 

To part with a faith so universal, so ancient and honored without 
a struggle, is not to be expected, for next to our faith in a Deity is 
an older, and to many a more tangible faith, the doctrine of radiated 
light, and our faith in the latter is no more emphatic, than the theory 



> 



SOLAR LIGHT. 35 

is without foundation; in fact, I can conceive of nothing more instinct- 
ively superficial, nor anything more absolutely irrational in logic. 

So late as the 17th century Sir Isaac Newton immortalized his 
name by formulating the philosophy of the solar radiation of seven 
different colored rays of light, with their relative degrees of heat. At 
a later day, Dr. Young elaborated the theory of Hooke and Huygens, 
and still later, Prof. Tyndall has undertaken to reconstruct the New- 
tonian theory of light in some of its details, leaving the conditions in 
principle, but little changed. 

A study of the formula presented and endorsed by Prof. Tyndall, 
teaches a theory of solar light wholly predicated upon the supposed 
existence of what he calls "inter-stellar ether." 

What this supposed, intangible "ether" really is, does not appear. 
We are told, however, that it fills the Universe ; that it has a wave or 
undulatory motion, moving in every direction with a speed next to 
that of thought. 

The Encyclopaedia Brittanica defines "ether" to be "a material 
substance of a more subtle kind than visible bodies, supposed to exist 
in those parts of space which are apparently empty." 

Worcester defines "ether" as "an element or matter supposed to 
be much finer and rarer than air, and to occupy the heavenly space 
from the termination of the atmosphere." 

Webster defines "ether" as "an hypothetical medium of great 
elasticity and extreme tenuity, supposed, to pervade all space, the 



36 SOLAR LIGHT. 

interior of solid bodies not excepted; and to be the medium of trans- 
mission of light and heat." 

Some writers suppose this universal "ether" to approach the earth 
no nearer than the outer limit of the atmosphere. On this assumption, 
the stipposed "ether" and its functions as a physical conduit of the 
sun's light and heat, would cease and terminate many leagues from 
the earth, and where the atmosphere is known to be the most attenu- 
ated and the temperature the lowest. Other writers suppose this 
ethereal element to penetrate the interior of all solid bodies. Quite a 
margin for speculation, it would seem, between the outer limits of our 
atmosphere, and the centre of the earth as a boundary to the realms 
of this most wonderful of all supposed things. 

Now, assuming there to be such an element, it is fair to conclude 
that it would at least in some degree become incorporated with, if not 
a constituent part of, the atmosphere; yet, it seems that Cavendish, 
in his exhaustive analysis of the atmosphere, never detected the exist- 
ence of such an element. 

It will be seen that all authorities discuss the "ether question" as 
hypothetical, (and for what it is worth) as an "element," as "matter," 
"substance and material," and as such, of course, subject to the same 
laws that regulate all known matter. The "ether" doctrine presup- 
poses the entire regions of space to be filled with an element of suffi- 
cient density to sustain an undulatory or wave motion extending from 
the centre to the limit of the Universe, an element of sufficient density 
to sustain a wave or pulsating motion of much greater velocity than 



SOLAR LIGHT. 

37 



the best conducted electric force. A force necessarily^^ than that 
exerted xn moving all of the primary and subordinate worlds of the 
Universe. Again assuming the ether theory to be correct, for every 
one part of the sun's forces utilized in lighting and warming the solar 
worlds, there would be at least a million, million parts wasted in space 
And nature is not supposed to be wasteful of its energies. 

This new construction, when fully translated, Explained and 
endorsed (by Prof. Tyndall) leaves the universe filled with an unknown 
element, and the sun is supposed to give this unknown element an 
undulatory or wave motion, and these "waves" are supposed to move 
with great rapidity, and on reaching the earth and other planets 
are supposed to give light and heat. To me, this invention is neither 
ingenious nor logical. 

In considering the subject of "inter-stellar ether" (again assum- 
ing there to be such), we are compelled to treat it as an element as ' 
broad and deep as the Universe. Possessing a density in some degree 
commensurate with its depth, and immeasurably the preponderating 
element of immensity. 

Another very important complication should be considered in the 
"ether" theory,- viz., the priority of creation, or possession, for, if we 
assume that the supposed "ether" was first to occupy space, the advent 
of the sun would necessarily change its physical condition by the 
introduction of both heat and density. And were we to assume the 
sun to have priority of birth, the sequence would be fatal to the sun 
as the sun's vital forces and functions would necessarily undergo quite 



38 SOLAR LIGHT. 

as great a revolution, at the advent of this new condition — of element- 
ary surroundings — in parting with its life and energies to a new 
principle. As all known matter is an absorbent of heat, it is fair to 
conclude that an unknown matter would be subject to the same law. 
And if the "ether" did exist, and in any degree as a conductor of 
solar light, the light so conducted, in its passage from the sun to its 
planets, would necessarily fill the solar regions, and thus forever hide 
from our senses all knowledge of the planets and stellar Universe. 
And this drain on the sun's forces will be better appreciated when we 
consider the innumerable ages that must have elapsed since this 
absorbing process commenced. The "ether" theory would imply that 
the days of the sun were numbered by exhaustion together with the 
extinction of the solar worlds, and thus, again change the physical 
condition of things, and suspend the functions of the supposed ethereal 
principle. And, as the tidal waves lash the distant shores of the 
Ocean, so would the physical disruption of the sun and solar worlds 
be felt to the remotest limits of the Universe. 

Now let us see how the "ether" theory will harmonize with 
established facts of the earth's motion in making the circuit of the 
sun, moving through a universe of this "ether" at a speed of more 
than a thousand miles per minute, with its envelope or attenuated 
breath of atmosphere undisturbed. Then we will light a match and 
undertake to move at the speed of a thousand miles a year and see 
how quickly the match would be stripped of its flame, just as the 
earth would be stripped of its atmosphere, did the supposed "ether'* 



SOLAR LIGHT. 



really exist. Then we will go back with our memory to an evening 
in 18S1 and to a morning in 1SS2 and again view the comets of those 
periods as they receded from the sun, preceded, by their attenuated 
gaseous tails, from thirty to fifty millions miles in length, as straight 
as an arrow, and shall we say, they moved through the realms of a 
boundless element, at a speed of 7,000 miles a minute? No!!! We 
will say they moved at this enormous speed through a boundless space, 
a created void, an open way; a clear track is provided for the flight 
of the shining Avorlds. 

To question the soundness of the "ethereal" doctrine which 
underlies the whole structure of the Hooke, Huygens, Young and 
Tyndall theory, would be to challenge the theory in the abstract and 
concrete, leaving us where Newton left us; or, to seek shelter in a 
structure more in harmony with well established facts relating to both 
light and heat. 

At different periods dating back to 1856 (as a matter of diversion), 
I have carefully investigated, by experiment and othenvise, the subjedl 
of light and heat; my investigations have been thorough, and have, I 
think, led to the discovery of a law hitherto unacknowledged. Not 
forgetting that all important discoveries and reformations are born, 
first to be baptized at the fountain of ridicule, a penalty expected, 
but not dreaded, as I can afford to wait a century for a verdict. 

That which I would term primary light, is the phenomena or 
blush of matter in the presence of the glow of combustion, whether solar 
or artificial. The tint or color of the blush corresponds with the color 



40 SOLAR LIGHT. 

of the glow. Its depths and intensity depend upon the volume and 
distance of the glow, from the subject matter present, as seen and 
instanced on the disk of the moon and other planets of the solar 
system, and this blush does not extend beyond the limit of the 
atmosphere which surrounds the planets. 

That which I would term secondary light, is the pale blush of 
matter in the presence of primary light, viz., moonlight on the earth 
and the light just before sun-rise and after sun-set. There is nothing 
of light or connected with light, to which the term radiation would 
correctly apply! In other words the doctrine of solar radiation is 
irrational! Again, light is the blush of matter in the presence of 
combustion! And heat is the product of the blush or light referred 
to, and in no degree is heat or light a cast-off from the sun! The 
physical action of the sun is limited to the depth of the solar atmos- 
phere, beyond which there is no vehicle with which to transmit its 
forces ! 

The volume or the degree of heat so generated depends upon 
the depth and condition of the atmosphere and the color of the back- 
ground. For instance, to give an equal degree of heat to each and 
all the planets of the solar system, God may have given the planet 
Mercury a white face, Venus a lead-colored dress, and Mars a red 
face, Jupiter a brown skin, Saturn a black one, and a garnet robe for 
Uranus and Neptune. With such colors, together with the system of 
moons, all the planets may enjoy the same degree of heat and light 
as do the inhabitants of earth. 



SOLAR LIGHT. 41 

The belt of light seen just above the horizon which we so much 
admire just before the sun-rise and after the sun-set (when the sky is 
clear) is the blush of a zone of atmosphere, which at the time of 
observation is in the presence of the sun, while the observer is in the 
shade of the earth. The intensity of the light fades as it rises in the 
degree that the air becomes less and less dense, until lost at the 
altitude limited by the height of the atmosphere, bej^ond which there 
is no blush this side of the solar envelope. Whereas if the New- 
tonian or the Young-Tyndall theories were correct, the light or 
blush referred to would not be confined to the limits of the atmos- 
phere. This law or phenomena relates to all known matter. With 
our reason properly focused we may see the sharply cut lines of this 
blush on the disk of the moon having no atmosphere and in contrast 
with it, we have the glimmering blush of Venus and other planets 
having atmospheres. The clear sky seen through an illuminated 
atmosphere (as per daylight) appears to be blue, but when seen 
through the shades of night, a very different colored sky is before 
us and looking through the midnight vault we may see a Universe 
of shining worlds without which night's canopy would be black. 

Another evidence by induction, that the phenomenon of light, 
is in itself a law, and not an offspring of combustion; that com- 
bustion is a constituent condition only, to the law or phenomena of 
light, is shown b}' the phenomenon, that matter subjected to the 
presence of combustion develops colors wholly its own. Whereas 
if light was a product of combustion instead of a condition or law, 



42 SOLAR UGHT. 

it is fair to conclude that all color would be as the tint or blush 
of combustion; on the contrary, the blush is one and universal, while 
color is as varied as matter is different in form and character. 

The diamond, the emerald, sapphire, ruby and opal, while deeply 
buried in the earth are void of color, but when brought into the pres- 
ence of combustion they blush in colors their own. Flowers will take 
form and fragrance in the absence of light, but when brought into the 
presence of combustion they develop color or colors peculiarly theirs, 
which would not be the case, if they were immersed in an element 
having its origin in combustion, instead of a law universal. 

The midnight tempest sends an electric charge to the earth 
with the speed of thought, no part of which is diverted from its desti- 
nation; at the same time, it lights up the heavens above and the earth 
below and the floods between the heavens and earth for many leagues 
around. Even here, mid the howling winds and the dash and crash of 
the waves, where the thunders rend the skies, the law of light, as the 
laws of gravity and sound, prevail unmoved upon eternal thrones. And 
shall we say such is radiated light? Or shall we say 'tis the blush 
of the elements in the presence of Heaven's electric fire, in obedience 
to a law universal? 

Philosophical formula will never reveal or explain first, or 
primary causes; Nature's laws are subject to discovery, but in no 
degree are they subjects of, or susceptible of explanation. 



SOLAR LIGHT. . 43 



The phenomena of light, or the blush of matter in the presence 
of combustion, is one of nature's laws and as occult in itself as are all 
first causes; they may be known to exist, but are not subjects for 
investigation; as they pertain to .the Infinite only, and in no degree 
subjects of finite analysis. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Theodore R. Timby. 



44 



THE GENESIS OF THE REVOLVING TURRET. 



THE GENESIS OF THE REVOLVING TURRET. 



Washington, D. C, March 2, il 
Theodore R. Timby, A. M., S. D. 

Dear Sir: Will you be so kind as to give me (briefly) a statement of your 
connection with the plans and construction of the Original Monitor, built in 
1862, and oblige, yours, sincerely, 

Dan' 1, Ammen, Rear Admiral, U. S. N. 



Daniel Ammen, Rear Admiral, U. S. N. , 

Navy Department, Washington, D. C. 

Dear Sir: In reply to your note of the 2d instant, relative to my connec- 
tion with the plans and construction of the Original Monitor, built in 1862, I beg 
leave to submit the following, "briefly." 

The first sight of the circular form of "Castle William," on Governor's 
Island, in the harbor of New York, suggested to me the idea of the revolving 
plan for defensive works, and in April, 1841, (when I was but nineteen years of 
age,) I came to Washington and exhibited a model and plans of a revolving 
battery (to be made of iron) to the then Chief of Engineers and the Chief of 
Ordnance, U. S. Army. I also submitted this model and these plans to the Hon. 
John C. Calhoun and many of his distinguished friends. 

In January, 1843, I made a model of a marine turret, which model is now in 
my possession. At this date I made my first record in the United States Patent 
Office, and from January, 1841, to 1861, I continued to urge the importance of 
my plans upon the proper authorities at Washington and elsewhere. 

In 1856 I exhibited these plans to the Emperor Napoleon III, and received 
some encouragement, but without practical results. 



THE GENESIS OF THE REVOLVING TURRET. 45 

Thus having, during twenty years, developed every conceivable modification 
of my original idea, I took out patents covering the broad claim " For Revolving 
Towers for Offensive or Defensive Warfare whether Placed on Land or 
Water." In 1862 I entered into a written agreement with the contractors and 
"builders of the original "Monitor," (John F. Winslow and John A. Griswold, of 
Troy, New York, C. S. Bushnell, of New Haven, Connecticut, and their asso- 
ciates,) for the use of my patents covering the revolving turret, by which they 
agreed to pay me, and did pay me, #5,000 as a royalty on each turret constructed 
by them. 

I may, I think, without departing from questions germane to this reply, state 
that the models of 1841 and 1843, and every succeeding model, drawing or plan 
of mine have had the pilot-house or "look-out" placed on the top of the turret. 
I believe that, with the exception of the original "Monitor," every revolving 
turret was so constructed. The "Monitor," for some inexplicable reason, had 
her pilot-house placed upon the deck, forward of the turret, and in the way of her 
own guns. I am, with great respect, yours, very truly, 

Theodore R. Timby. 
Washington, D. C, March 2, 1888. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of March, A. D. 188S. 
[seal.] R. H. Evans, Notary Public. 

Washington, D. C, February 27, 1888. 
To Col. Rowland R. Hazard, New York. 

Dear Sir: In response to your communication relating to the Original Mon- 
itor, built in 1862, I beg leave to state in this connection that Mr. C. S. Bushnell, 
of New Haven, Conn., told me in the spring of 1887, that "we the contractors 
and builders, (viz.,) John F. Winslow and John A. Griswold, of Troy, N. Y., and 
myself, stipulated with Mr. T. R. Timby, (the inventor of the turret used on the 
Original Monitor,) by which we agreed to pay Mr. Timby, and did pay him, the 
sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) as a royalty on each of the Monitors built 
by our Company." 

Very respectfully, yours, 

S. C. Pomeroy. 



46 THE GENESIS OF THE REVOLVING TURRET. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of March, A. D. ii 

[SEAL.] . W. H. FiSKE, Notary Public. 



"Mr. T. R. Timby. 

"Dear Sir: A thorough investigation of your new system of Coast Defense 
shows it to be (not only invulnerable) but incomparably superior to the two-gun 
turret invented and patented by you, and first used on the original "-Monitor, " 
built in 1862, under the supervision of Capt. John Ericsson, Engineer, on a con- 
tract made with the United States Government by myself and others. ' * * * 

"John F. Winslow. 

"Po'keepsie, N. Y., Sept. 12, 1885." 



N. B. — It is in no degree probable that the Monitor or anything like it 
would ever have been built had it not been for the liberality, patriotism and per- 
sistence of Hon. John F. Winslow, John A. Griswold and C. S. Bushnell. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Theodore R. Timby. 

(Copy.) [2-I75-] 

United States Patent Office. 

To all persons to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: 

This is to certify that the annexed is a true copy from the records of this 
office of an official letter dated December 3, 1881. 

In testimony whereof I, V. D. Stockbridge, Acting Commissioner of Patents, 
have caused the seal of the Patent Office to be affixed this 3d day of December, 
in the year of our Dord one thousand eight hundred, and eighty-one, and of the 
Independence of the United States the one hundred and sixth. 

[seal.] V. D. STOCKBRIDGE, 

Acting Commissioner. 



THE GENESIS OF THE REVOLVING TURRET. 47 



Department of the Interior, 

United States Patent Office, 

Washington, D. C, Dec. 3d, 1881. 
Theo. R. Timby, Esq., 

Care Knight Bros. , Washington, D. C. 
Sir: In compliance with your request of- this date, you are respectfully 
informed, that the records of this office show that a caveat was filed by you 
on January 18, 1843, for a "Metallic Revolving Fort," to be used on 
land or water, and to be revolved by propelling- engines located 
within the same and acting upon suitable mechanism. 
Respectfully, 

M. SEATON, Chief Clerk. 



(Copy.) [2-I75-] 

Wm^mwtwmmmi @f ilk® lmimwi@w^ 

United States Patent Office. 

To all persons to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: 

This is to certify that the annexed is a true copy from the records of this 
office of a certain portion of the specification in the matter of the Letters Patent 
granted Theodore R. Timby, September 30, 1862, antedated July 8, 1862, No. 
36,593, for improvement in Revolving Battery Tower. 

In testimony whereof I, V. D. Stockbridge, Acting Commissioner of Patents, 
have caused the seal of the Patent Office to be affixed this 8th day of December, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, and of the 
Independence of the United States the one hundred and sixth. 

[seal.] V. D. STOCKBRIDGE, 

Acting Commissioner. 



48 THE GENESIS OF THE REVOLVING TURRET. 



THEODORE R. TIMBY, OF WORCESTER, MASS.— LETTERS PATENT No. 36,593, DATED 
SEPTEMBER 30, 1862.— IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVING BATTERY TOWER. 

Last two paragraphs of Specification. 

Although I have described certain mechanism for effecting the revolution of the 
tower, yet this is only by way of illustration. I wish it to be distinctly under- 
stood that I do not limit myself to any special mechanical means for producing the 
revolution, nor to any form of tower, nor yet to the materials of which it may be 
constructed. But having described my invention and the manner in which it 
operates, and having pointed out one method of practically carying it into effect — 
What I claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters 
Patent of the United States is, A revolving tower for defensive and 
offensive warfare, whether placed on land or water. 

THEODORE R. TIMBY. 
Witnesses : 

EDM. F. BROWN. 
J. W. SHUGERT. 

Ex'd, H. M. H. 
E. A. M. 



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